Ch. XVI. Of pardoning injuries, against revenge

THERE is yet a neceſſary thing for preſerving peace and meekneſs towards our neighbour, which is the pardon of injuries. It is a virtue which muſt be learned betimes, by ſo much ſooner as it is more difficult, very rare amongſt Chriſtians, and yet abſolutely neceſſary for ſalvation.

You muſt learn, dear Theotime, to forgive the injuries done you by others; that is, never to harbour in your mind any hatred againſt your neighbour, whatever diſpleaſure you have received from him, nor to have any deſire of revenge, nor wiſh him any ill; but on the contrary, deſire his good, and ſhew him kindneſs, when his neceſſity, or the edification of others requires it.

You will ſay that it is difficult. 'Tis true, but it is only hard to thoſe who have never conſidered the reaſons which oblige them to it; which are ſo ſtrong and powerful, that they, who after ever ſo little reflection on them are not convinced, muſt needs have loſt all their ſenſe and judgment.

1. God will have it ſo, and abſolutely without any exception commands it. He has ſaid in the Old Teſtament, Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy-citizens. And in the New, his Son Chriſt Jeſus has ſolemnly renewed the prohibition. I ſay to you, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. Render to no man evil for evil, ſays St. Paul. Whoſoever hateth his brother, ſays St. John, is a murderer.

2. He commands it in ſuch a manner, that he will not pardon your ſins, except you from your heart pardon all thoſe who have offended you. Forgive, and you ſhall be forgiven, ſays the Son of God; For with the ſame meaſure that you ſhall mete withal, it ſhall be meaſured to you again. If you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences. Judgment without mercy, ſays the Apoſtle St. James, to him that hath not done mercy. Conſider this well, and ſee whether you would not have God pardon you.

3. This will of God is grounded on ſo manifeſt a point of equity, that even the moſt obſtinate cannot contradict it. Is there any thing more juſt, than that God ſhould treat you as you treat others? that he ſhould forgive you as you forgive others? that he ſhould revenge himſelf of you, if you will be revenged of thoſe who have offended you? Is not this juſt? Weigh well, Theotime, what I am going to ſay. You would have God infinite in majeſty and power, offended, by whom? by his own creature, after he had beſtowed upon it all imaginable favours; offended moſt grievouſly, and with an infinite offence, for which neither you nor all creatures together, although you ſhould join your lamentations with them for all eternity, could know how to make him proper ſatisfaction; in ſhort, injured by an offence which deſerves an eternal damnation, which cannot be avoided but by his pure mercy, which he is not obliged to ſhew you: you would, I ſay, deſire that a God ſo great, offended by you ſo grievouſly, ſhould pardon you ſuch an offence, and remit you ſuch a puniſhment; and will not you pardon your brother, one like yourſelf, a ſmall offence? You, who are a ſinner as he is, and who have need of pardon as well as he; you, who perhaps have wronged him firſt, or at leaſt have ſhewed him no kindneſs, or if you have, it is not to be compared with what God has ſhewn you; nay, moreover, that favour you have done him came not from you, but from God: will you, I ſay, after all theſe conſiderations ſeek revenge and ſatisfaction for your offence, and will not have God revenge himſelf of you? are not you unjuſt, yea, even ridiculous? One man keepeth anger againſt another, and doth he ſeek to be healed by God? He hath no mercy on a man like himſelf, and doth he intreat for his own ſins? He that is but fleſh, nouriſheth anger, and doth he aſk forgiveneſs of God? Who, ſays the wiſe man, ſhall obtain pardon for his ſins? After this, Theotime, what have you to anſwer? will you ſay that it is hard to pardon? ſay alſo, that it is hard to obtain pardon of your ſins from God. Will you ſay, that you will not? Say likewiſe, that you will not aſk pardon of God! Say no longer in the Lord's prayer, Forgive us our treſpaſſes as we forgive them that treſpaſs againſt us, but, take vengeance of me, as I do of thoſe who have offended me. Weigh this well, Theotime, and conſider what you ought to ſay and do on this occaſion.

But you will ſay, I would freely pardon him, and not revenge myſelf; but I can never prevail upon myſelf to love and wiſh him well, who has offended me, and would ſtill do me a miſchief. If ſo, grant then that you would not have God love you, nor beſtow upon you any bleſſing; for he will treat you as you treat your neighbour. Say that you will not love another like yourſelf, for the love of Jeſus Chriſt, who has loved you ſo as to die for your ſalvation when you were his enemy; and that God having loved you when you were unworthy, you will not love your brother, except he be worthy of your love. Say that you will not love your neighbour for the love of God, but for the love of yourſelf only. And although God commands you to love him who has offended you, exhorts you to it, and accounts the love you render to one like you, as done to his own perſon; yet all this is not capable of making you quit the reſentment, and hatred you bear in your heart. Say, in ſhort, that you do not wiſh to obtain the grace of God, and eternal life, ſince the ſcripture teaches us, that We have paſſed from death to life; becauſe we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death.

Let us conclude, Theotime, that either we muſt renounce Chriſ- tianity, the love of God, and eternal ſalvation, or we muſt neceſ- ſarily pardon injuries, love our enemies, and render good for evil. But as this virtue is difficult through the corruption of nature and the depravity of mankind, which cannot reliſh it, you muſt learn it in good time, and beg it frequently of God. Implore him that he would give you a meek and peaceable heart, rendering good for evil. Accuſtom yourſelf from your youth to pardon ſmall injuries, not to render ill for ill, that you may learn to pardon great ones if ever offered, for the love of him who has ſaved you, when he might moſt juſtly have deſtroyed you for all eternity.